A Link Between Autism and Thimerosal?

tessellation writes "Environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has just published a review of evidence for the link between thimerosal (a mercury-based preservative added to vaccines until 2003) and the autism epidemic. It also details attempts by the FDA and CDC to protect the drug industry from litigation by producing favorable results rather than objective studies: '"Four current studies are taking place to rule out the proposed link between autism and thimerosal," Dr. Gordon Douglas, then-director of strategic planning for vaccine research at the National Institutes of Health, assured a Princeton University gathering in May 2001. "In order to undo the harmful effects of research claiming to link the [measles] vaccine to an elevated risk of autism, we need to conduct and publicize additional studies to assure parents of safety." Douglas formerly served as president of vaccinations for Merck, where he ignored warnings about thimerosal's risks." How often are studies successfully altered by funding agencies to conceal negative results?"

Comments

Mr Kennedy's a qualified researcher now?

[gusnz]

This smells fishy. Especially considering most of the authors of the original 1998 study suggesting a link between the MMR vaccine and autism have apologised and had their paper retracted by the Lancet due to a conflict of interest. Furthermore, a recent study of Danish children has shown rates of autism continued to increase even after the removal of thimersol from vaccines (via a MetaFilter discussion of this topic).

Now, don't get me wrong; it may still be the case that thimersol or some other vaccine ingredient contributes to autism. However, the balance of evidence from qualified medical researchers is against this viewpoint at the moment, and it's unethical of Mr Kennedy to start spreading what is essentially FUD unless he has the epidemiological data to back it up.

Half-truths

[jd]

There is unquestionably a link between mercury and brain disorders - mercury is a well-known neurotoxin, and is linked to all kinds of madness and dementia, especially in the hatting industry, where mercury was used to soften felt.

Autism is not on the list of known effects and many of those who do make the link are involved in expensive remedies that have no established effectiveness whatsoever. As such, I would regard them as being just as dubious as the American pharmaceutical industry.

Now, it is well established that the CDC and FDA have been involved in gross coverups and scandals - not too long ago, they were caught having forged the results of "studies" in Africa on an antiviral. The results weren't merely "not good", they were utterly bogus. Further research actually showed that patients had a distinct habit of dying from the medication, which was damn inconvenient for those wanting to make a fast buck.

It is entirely possible that certain vaccinations MAY have untoward impact on the brain - we don't know all of the allergic responses to vaccinations and have no means of predicting them in advance. (Why do you think you're asked to sit and wait, after getting shots? Because they need someone to prop the wall up?)

However, the link is unproven to be connected with autism and if you look at the mechanics of autism, there is no reason to believe that that is where the link lies.

Autism involves sensory overload shutting parts of the higher levels of the brain down. This is why a severely autistic child is quite capable of interacting with environments that are relatively slow-moving and over a very small fraction of the field of vision. Anything more simply puts the brain into shock.

It is also why geeks are commonly associated with higher-functioning autism and aspergers, as computers are generally not moving a great deal. The range a person needs to contend with is vastly reduced.

Nobody - absolutely nobody - knows the cause of autism, or how to diagnose it except empirically. There are no diagnostics beyond observing a person's responses, which is somewhat medieval. Studies of autism involving PET, CAT, fMRI or EEG devices are limited at best (I know of exactly none), so the amount of neurological data is limited.

Autism is likely to be genetic, as couples on the autistic spectrum do seem to have a higher chance of producing autistic children, but even that is not really proven. It could equally well be dietary. No gene has been found linked to autism, despite some work in this area, which raises the possibility that there is no gene to be found.

In the meantime, I don't suggest cutting back on vaccinations over fear of autism, though because vaccinations can have unexpected effects, I don't advise ever taking a vaccination unnecessarily. It is not something to mess with. On the other hand, superbugs, misdiagnosed lethal infections, killer viruses, etc, are considerably more lethal. If a vaccination is a live hand grenade, the pathogens we live with are a live neutron bomb.

My advice to those concerned about any kind of mental disease is to increase your intake of follic acid to twice current recommended levels, increase your intake of fresh fruits and don't mix citric acid and vitamin C with anything with a high metal content (tea, coffee, swordfish, etc) as those two CAN (under some circumstances) increase your uptake of some of the nastier metals.

Do that and I don't think you'll have anything to worry about. At least, nothing more than usual.

Re:Half-truths

[loose canons]

...In the meantime, I don't suggest cutting back on vaccinations over fear of autism, ...
That is the public reason given by CDC for bending over backwards to keep any vaccine on the market: they know, to 3 sigma, what happens if you DONT get vaccinated and, having satisfied themselves of the cost/benefit tradeoff of the vaccination, set about downplaying those sideeffects so the public wont avoid the vaccine. Only problem is, its an incredibly high stakes game for Big Pharma and the poor and poorly publicised protections against conflict of interest between FDA, CDC and Big Pharma [such as have just come to light in this article] makes it possible for the financial interest of the drug company to get better protection than the public's health. In other words, the CDC wants to do good and Big Pharma want to do well and the way our system is working, it is possible to blur the two objectives to the favor of the drug companies.

Re:Half-truths

[ebh]

Studies of autism involving PET, CAT, fMRI or EEG devices are limited at best (I know of exactly none), so the amount of neurological data is limited.

True, but this recent one is definitely of interest.

My son is on the autistic spectrum. Our "safe side" is that we insist on thimerosal-free vaccines, but he still does get vaccinated. Even if this issue gets put to bed once and for all, we're still not going to inject mercury into our kids, for all the obvious reasons.

The other thing we do, which is not directly connected to autism, is that in cooperation with our pediatrician, we designed our own vaccination schedules for both our kids that gets them all the standard ones, but separated over time, so that they're not getting hit with as many as five antigens at once.

Re:Half-truths

[avi33]

I don't suggest cutting back on vaccinations over fear of autism, though because vaccinations can have unexpected effects.

The drug companies have not used it in child vaccines since 2002. In the US. As for other countries, most notably third world countries that are accepting "charitable donations" from drug companies, are stuck being guinea pigs until the true risks are discovered.

So you've got drug companies on the one hand saying "there's no risk" and on the other hand, removing the suspect chemical and lobbying congress to make it impossible to be found liable.

I don't think TFA would have such a sense of outrage and urgency if this hadn't been bubbling up for some time. It was on the cover of the NY Times magazine back in 2001 or so, and that article illustrated the possible risk and stated that more comprehensive studies were underway. Those studies have since been completed, and no matter how you cut it, suggest a risk. Maybe not the smoking gun that everyone needs to put this to bed, but enough of a risk that the drug companies themselves could no longer claim the lack of risk. So they removed it from the US supply, where the threat of litigation is great.

The outrageous part of it is that the former Director of the US Pediatric Vaccination program went on record (in 97 or so) stating that we since it's not a critical component of the vaccines (it makes it cheaper to produce), and it may be a risk, it should be removed while further studies are completed. The drug companies refused to consider that possibility, as that would be close to an admission of liability.

No tinfoil hats needed here.

Re:Half-truths

[dryeo]

Well for me the link was when my son had a MMR shot and stopped talking. His actions also changed a lot and eventually he was diagnosed with autism. There definately seemed to be a correlation.
Interestingly my sons symptons are much the same as my own just more severe (officially I was diagnosed as oxygen starved at birth though I have an IQ in the high 140s. State of diagnoses in the late 60's)
One other thing of interest is that my son started talking and mellowed out enourmously after cutting out all diary products from his diet. Even now it is quite obvious when he has had diary, I often surprise my wife by observing that he must of had a diary product that day and being right.

Interesting article...

[benjamindees]

Searching for children who had not been exposed to mercury in vaccines -- the kind of population that scientists typically use as a "control" in experiments -- Olmsted scoured the Amish of Lancaster County, Penn., who refuse to immunize their infants. Given the national rate of autism, Olmsted calculated that there should be 130 autistics among the Amish. He found only four. One had been exposed to high levels of mercury from a power plant. The other three -- including one child adopted from outside the Amish community -- had received their vaccines.

Re:Art Bell

[Seumas]

Riiiight.

The RIAA charges $17 for a CD and you call it "over priced" and "evil". Drug companies fix pricing so that they're more expensive than hard core narcotics and they're an "industry that does a lot of good".

Funding research for you to exploit isn't "doing good". It's just a matter of "doing business".

Much more research is needed.

[lazy genes]

Many savants lose thier skills when they are forced to improve their socual and comunication skills.Autism is different than brain damage due to toxins.Many high functioning autistic people do not want to be cured.I think that normal people waste too much energy discriminating against others that are different.Too much mercury intake causes brain dammage, not autism.Riding a motorcycle without a helmet may cause brain dammage, not autism.

My personal experience with my son and MMR.

[Anonymous Coward]

All I know is that my son, as a baby, was starting to put blocks neatly in a row (an important developmental step) before his MMR shot. A week after his shot, he couldn't do it anymore and regressed about 5-6 months behind.

He wouldn't talk until he was 4, then all he would say is "Hi, I'm , I'm 4". Seriously, that's all he would say along with maybe a yes or no. He called both his mom and me "dad" for about a year.

He's not full-blown autistic, but he is on the autistic spectrum. He's a special case, because he's apparently "borderline" on about a dozen different things, which makes it very difficult to get help because he's not actually diagnosed with autism.

All I know is that after the MMR, I lost my little boy, and I'm just starting to get him back now. I've really missed him since he's been gone these past 5 years.

Chelating?

[DamienMcKenna]

One of the surprising apsects of autism is the number of people who have had dramatic recovering from it by chelating metals out of their body - quite surprising indeed.

Damien

Re:Chelating?

[LWATCDR]

I suggest you visit this site. http://www.quackwatch.org/03HealthPromotion/immu/t himerosal.html

Chelation to treat autism is about as useful as a tinfoil hat. Why would you take the word of a site that is clearly for the Chelation industry?

Re:The link is definitely there.

[dtolman]

Idiot eh? I can tell that you did a really good job fact checking the article. Oh wait. You didn't - you just swallowed the whole thing without any critical thought. Maybe you should do some research before making YOURSELF look like an ass.

The only thing that is "scary" about that article is what a serious hackjob and scare piece it is. The sad thing is that I had a lot - a lot - of repect for RFK Jr before that article.

And don't take my word for it - please. Look it up for yourself. Take a look at the actual transcript of the meeting that RFK Jr sliced and diced from. Or if you're too lazy, look at the many blogs out there that have done the job for you. Autism Diva is a good place to start.